


waking up to you never felt so real (comatose)

by kawx



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Blood and Gore, F/F, M/M, Psychological Horror, Science Experiments, Science Fiction, Self Harm, Surgical Experiments
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-16
Updated: 2014-10-26
Packaged: 2018-02-09 01:27:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1963800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kawx/pseuds/kawx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean can remember fragments, can hear a soft voice in the back of his head telling him that he's scared, can feel soft lips pressed against his own. He can hear him, but who is he?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello hola hi, my names Georgia and this is my first shield fic and I'm actually pleased with how it turned out, even though it is half past one in the morning and my eyes just are barely even open at the moment. anyway, I don't know where the whole idea of this came from, but it popped up from the corners of my dark and twisted brain and said, hey! why not write a dark and weird ambrolleigns fic to distract you from the fact that you have college in about 50 days. so, here I am. if you've read through this horribly long note and are going to read on, thank you so much for taking an interest and I hope you enjoy the first chapter. my tumblr is moxxley if you want to message me at all. so I'll shut up now, thank you and enjoy!

Roman grins at Dean, and pushes himself from the ground.

 

“C’mon Seth, don’t be a baby! It’s just an old house,” Roman says, looking down at his two toned best friend and offers his hand to help him up. Seth rolls his eyes and accepts the hand, brushing the dirt from his sweat pants when he gets to his feet.

 

“I’m not being a baby, Rome. I just don’t think I like the idea of going in there. I mean seriously, have you heard the things they say about the place?” Seth’s voice slightly wavers and Dean scoffs turning back to look at the old abandoned house in the middle of the field. The sky is turning dark and rain threatens to fall.

 

 

“You don’t really believe everything people say, do you Seth? Rome’s right, it’s just a house. What’s the worst that could happen?” Seth sighs, he knows he’s not going to win. He looks at his two best friends and then to the house in the field. Dean had been the one to suggest it, going inside the house. He’d stumbled across it when he was just wondering the fields and took a quick look around. Of course he hadn’t actually gone inside on his own; he’d waited until Roman and Seth were here to suggest that.

 

 

Seth swallows and lets his shoulders sag in defeat. “Alright, alright, let’s go before I change my mind and leave you both here on your own,” Dean grins in triumph and Roman claps him on the shoulder, a hiss of ‘fuck yes’ leaving him as the three of them picked their way through the field towards the house.

 

 

Dean lets his hands dangle by his sides and his fingers graze the tops of the wild, over grown flowers. Despite his earlier enthusiasm to check the place out, there’s a small voice in the back of his head that knows that what Seth said moments ago was right. People had been talking about this place. And it wasn’t the usual ghost stories and extra terrestrial goings on that usually plagued old houses. There were talks of blood on the walls, screaming from the upstairs and murders when the house was operational. But maybe that was the thrill of it, not many people ventured out here, and going back and telling everyone that he, Seth and Roman had been in the house was going to be priceless.

 

 

When the three of them reach the front of the house, they stand on the steps for a moment and take in the sight of the front door which is hanging off the hinges, the wood splintered in so many places its technically many different pieces of wood. Dean is the first to push past the wood, scraping his arm a little on one of the sharp shards sticking out the side. He hisses and watches as a small scratch appears on his arm, Dean flicks a splinter of wood from his skin before wiping away the blood with his fingers.

 

He turns to Roman and Seth who have now joined him in the room, and he laughs at the look on Seth’s face. His eyebrows are drawn together in concentration and his chest rises and falls as he tries to breathe normally.

 

 

“C’mon Seth, don’t look so scared. I promise you I won’t let anything hurt you,” Dean shuffles over to Seth and stands impossibly close to him. Seth looks at him with his big brown eyes and mumbles, “I’m not scared, you idiot.” Dean chuckles and lets his hand rest upon Seth’s cheek for a moment before turning away from him.

 

He lets his eyes scan around the dingy room and wonders why he ever thought a house could be scary. There’s no blood on the walls or no broken furniture like he expected, just dust; and lots of it.

 

“Fucking shithole.” Dean murmurs, the floorboards creaking underneath him as he steps across the room. Seth follows him quickly and Roman chuckles, following the both of them through the door. Dean ends up in the kitchen, though not much of it remains. The porcelain sink is smashed and the doors of the cupboards hang on their hinges. Dean sighs, he’s at least a little disappointed that there’s no blood in this room, either. On the counters all that remains is a thick layer of dust and the bodies of dead flies and moths. Dean swipes his finger across it and lifts it up to inspect the grime that’s collected on the pad of his index finger. He pulls a face and rubs his hands down his jeans.

 

Roman hums under his breath as he peers into cupboards, finding nothing interesting inside them. Seth is standing near the doorway, one hand near his mouth as he chews at his fingernails. Dean chuckles softly and takes Seth by the wrists, pulling the younger into him.

 

“Seth, babe, seriously there’s nothing here. All those shitty stories about the blood on the walls is obviously all fake,” Dean takes a moment to look at Seth’s face and he sighs softly, his grip tightening on his wrists just a fraction. He pulls him closer, breath ghosting over his lips. Seth shudders a little and instinctively leans into Dean. “God, you’re actually scared, aren’t you?” Dean’s voice is barely above a whisper, but Seth nods his head ever so slightly. Dean’s the one to close the gap between them, and he presses his lips against Seth’s, momentarily appreciating their softness.

 

His hands slip from Seth's wrists and they move to the back of his head, his fingers curling into his hair as he pushes Seth against him. Seth moans quietly, parting his lips so that Dean can kiss him properly. Dean's mouth is hot and wet and welcoming against his own and Seth's hands grip at Dean's black t-shirt, fingers curling into the fabric. The moan causes Roman to turn towards them, interrupting his inspection of a coin found in the second drawer.

 

"Oh my god, guys seriously. We're in a fucking dirty old house, how can you be getting off on this?" Roman groans, shaking his head at Dean when he pulls away from Seth. Dean smirks and turns back to Seth, letting his thumb trace over his bottom lip.

 

"C'mon Rome, I'm just trying to make Seth feel better," Dean leans into Seth again and takes his bottom lip between his teeth, his one hand moving down his body slowly to press against Seth's jean clad crotch. Seth lets out a whimper, fingers digging into the skin underneath Dean's shirt.

 

"Sick fuckers," Roman mumbles, shoving the coin into his pocket. It's probably worthless, but it looks pretty cool. He goes back to snooping in the drawers and tries to ignore his friends groping each other in the middle of the room. Roman finds three more coins and a hair grip with a butterfly on it. He shoves them into his pocket with the other coin and pushes himself from his knees. When he looks over at Dean and Seth, he can't help but grin at them. Dean has stopped palming him and now has both of his hands interlocked with Seth's, and he's leaving small kisses across his face.

 

"If you two are quite finished with your love fest," Roman begins, wiping his palms on his thighs to get rid of the dust and sweat lining them. "Why don't we take a look up--" Roman stops talking when he hears the sound of glass shattering from upstairs. The house is suddenly silent, and Seth clings to Dean like if he doesn't, he's going to fall and disappear forever.

 

"What the fuck was that?" Seth hisses, eyes wide with fear. Dean places a warm hand on his hip. He swallows and looks at Seth reassuringly.

 

"It's probably nothing, just a gust of wind through an open window knocking something over," Dean reasons, thumb circling at Seth's hip. Seth nods slightly, though he knows he's not buying it. There had been barely a breeze all day. There's a creak of floorboards from above them, and they lift their heads simultaneously. Roman swallows and looks down at Seth and Dean.

 

"Maybe we should check it out?" Roman says quietly, though he makes no attempt to move from the spot he's in. Seth shakes his head vigorously, eyes growing wider.

 

"No," he snaps quietly, voice hissing and short. "Why the fuck should we do that?" Dean shushes him quietly, the pads of his fingers stroking his cheeks gently to sooth him.

 

"Because it will put your mind at ease. There's nothing here to hurt you Seth, I promise you." Dean presses his lips to Seth's sweaty forehead and slips his hand into his. Roman takes this as his queue to move, before Seth starts protesting. Roman makes it to the stares and he looks back behind him to see Dean gently pulling Seth to the stairs behind him. Roman's steps are slow and tentative as he tries to be quiet on his assent. His heart thuds slightly against his rib cage as he reaches the top step. His body relaxes when he spots the smashed glass in a room opposite the stairs. It's right next to the window which is also smashed, the dirty net curtain sways in the breeze. He turns to Seth with a comforting smile.

 

"See Seth, just an open window like Dean said, there's nothing to be scared of." Seth's shoulders relax a little when he reaches the top steps and sees what Roman is pointing too. Roman steps slowly into the room, moving towards the window to look out at the vast expanse of land at the back of the house. Roman breathes in the scent of oncoming rain and exhales heavily. The sky is a dark grey now, almost black and the dark clouds swirl together like the formation of a cyclone.

 

"Uh, guys?" Seth's scared, quiet voice brings Roman away from the window, he looks at his friend, whose now shaking and clutching at Dean like his life depends on it. Dean isn't doing much better, he's frozen on the spot and he's got his eyes locked ahead of him. Roman follows his gaze and feels the breeze from the window graze the back of his neck. When Roman's eyes catch the wall, his breath grips the walls of his throat. He's suddenly forgotten how to breathe, and the hairs on the back of his neck start to tickle.

 

On the wall, covering the hideous, dirty flower printed wallpaper is blood. It's splattered, dark red streaks run down the entire length of the wall until they reach the dried pool on the floorboards. But what really makes Roman want to throw up the remains of the burger he ate earlier, is the axe that's wedged into the plaster, trapping a blood covered doll against the wall. It hangs down, it's hair trapped between the blade and the wall. Roman swallows thickly, wanting to look anywhere but the wall but not being able to look anywhere else.

 

"Can we leave now?" Seth whispers, so quietly and his voice dripping with so much fear that Roman doesn't think he even heard him. Dean nods slowly, still not taking his eyes away from the wall, he can see the bloody hand prints around the handle of the axe and he grips Seth's hand tighter, his heart starting to hammer in his chest.

 

The scream comes from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. It's high pitched and shrill and it makes his ears burn and his head spin. The wall in front of them starts to shudder and the floorboards beneath their feet starts creaking loudly. The screaming continues to get louder as the shuddering wall starts to crumble. The axe slips from its position and clatters to the floor, but the doll doesn't fall. It stays stuck to the shuddering wall, hanging by its dark strands of hair. It's body shakes frantically and if Dean's head didn't feel like it was about to explode, he'd say that the doll was laughing.

 

Seth's weight goes limp in his arms and his knees buckle, making him slump to the floor. His grip on Dean's hand loosens and Dean tries to pull him back to his feet, but he's a dead weight. Dean tries to hold him up, tries to scream his name just to try and get him to respond, but when he opens his mouth he feels like somebody is pushing the words back down his throat, trying to choke him with them.

 

Seth's eyes have rolled into the back of his head and Dean tries shaking him, but Seth's body starts to convulse violently in his arms. Dean turns to Roman, wanting to get as far away from this place as he could so that he can wake Seth up, but his heart nearly explodes when he sees Roman's body on the floor, convulsing just like Seth is. He tries to scream his name, but his words choke him. They suck all of the air from his lungs and cripple him so that he's on his knees, hunched over Seth's convulsing body.

 

His head burns and his vision burns white hot, but Dean doesn't miss the small, grubby feet of a girl standing in the door way before his eyes burn so much he can't see anymore.

 

-

 

Cold fingers pull Dean from his unconscious state. He blinks slowly, willing his eyes to become accustomed to the harsh white light shining above his head.

 

His ears are ringing slightly, but he can hear the faint sounds of wheels disappearing into the distance. He goes to scratch at his forehead, but his hands are strapped at his sides.

 

Dean's body tenses. His feet are restrained too and he can hear the clanking of chains as he moves his restricted limbs as much as he can. He panics, and starts to thrash around, his heart beating so wildly in his chest it's almost painful. To his left, there's another person tied to a bed. Dean thrashes some more, putting as much force as he can muster into pulling out of the restraints. But they're impossibly tight, and he can feel the skin on his wrists begin to split.

 

He can feel the blood now, dripping into the cracks of his fingers and spreading across his palms. Within a minute, he's swarmed. Surrounded by people all wearing white. A large woman with white hair and a wrinkled face leans in close to him and takes a vice like grip on his arm. She looks at him with glassy eyes before jabbing his arm with something sharp. She smiles sweetly and brings her bony hand up to Dean's sweaty, dirty blonde hair and strokes it away from his face.

 

"Sleep now, young man, you're safe here." Dean's eye lids start to feel like lead and his limbs become heavy, he slowly begins to calm, he can no longer fight against the restraints.

 

"You're safe." He hears again, before his eyes close and his mind burns white hot.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean’s sitting in his usual seat against the wall when he hears a voice. A soft voice, and its familiar, so very familiar but he doesn’t recognise the person who speaks. This guy, who’s just come down the corridor with a nurse and said a simple ‘thank you’ to her when she passes him some pills. The voice rings loud in his head, he hears it over and over again, repeating itself like a mantra because it’s so familiar.
> 
>  
> 
> (“I’m scared,”)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this is a filler chapter of sorts, to try and help the plot thicken. thank you for the interest in the first chapter! i'd like to point out that everything may be a bit, vague, at the moment, but thats on purpose, and i promise everything will become more clear as the story develops. and also a note, because on fanfiction.net somebody commented that we'd seen ambrollins, but nothing gave way to amrolleigns being involved, well it will be, but not just yet. the start is very ambrollins heavy, but other pairings show themselves as the plot thickens. so with that, enjoy and it would be lovely if you could drop me a comment at the end :)

Dean wakes when his shoulder smashes into the floor. He cries out as the pain rockets through his shoulder and across his shoulder blades making his whole body curl in to try and protect himself. He grunts and lets the pain in his shoulder dissipate before Dean braces his hands on the cold tiles and pushes himself into a sitting position.

 

_Oh_.  Last time he checked, he had carpet in his bedroom. Except, he’s not in his bedroom anymore, as far as he can tell. The walls around him are stark white, matching the gleam of the tiles beneath him. Dean breathes out slowly, his eyes scanning around him. This is definitely not his room. He blinks and swallows the lump that’s forming in his throat. He tries to think about where he is, it looks like a hospital, but it’s definitely not the local one. That actually has windows, he should know, he’s been there more than a handful of times.

 

Dean’s pushing himself to his feet – suddenly aware that his limbs feel like they’re made of lead – when someone pushes their way into the room.

 

The woman is dressed in a white surgical coat that reaches past her knees, and a pair of white tennis shoes. Her face is pale and void of any emotion as she pushes a trolley full of medicine into the room.

 

“Mr Ambrose,” she says in a flat voice, she doesn’t look at Dean as she draws fluid into a needle. “You will be moved to a more permanent room in a few moments, but first you must take your medicine.” She tests the needle, and Dean shudders, he always hated needles.

 

“What’s going on, where am I?” Dean’s voice is barely hear able, it’s hoarse and the words feel tight in his throat. The woman turns to him with a look of displeasure spread across her face and strides towards him, clutching the needle in her hands.

 

“Young man, you are where you belong.” The – _probably_ – nurse says to him as she takes hold of his arm, her fingers dig into his skin and he doesn’t have the energy to try and pull it away from her.

 

“Where’s that?” The needle slides easily into his arm, but the nurse doesn’t apply any pressure to it afterwards like he’s seen them do before when he had to have his shots. She smiles slightly and turns back towards the medicine trolley. She discards the needle in a small yellow bin, three male nurses enter the room and move straight towards Dean. They take hold of his arms and surround him. The female nurse pushes the trolley out of the door before she turns her head to look at Dean from over her shoulder. There’s a wicked smile on her thin, pale lips.

 

“Welcome to Greenwoods Mental Institution, Mr Ambrose.”

 

-

 

Dean explodes. He shouts and he screams but the nurses take no notice of him as they shove him into his room and lock the door behind him. _Mental Institution._ He knows he’s bad, he’s done some crazy shit in his life that may or may not warrant him to spend a few nights in a police station, but he’s not fucking loony. He definitely doesn’t belong here, no matter how many times he’s been told he’s a fucking lunatic, no matter how many times the nurses at the hospital told him to stop doing crazy shit; he does not belong in a hospital full of whack jobs.

 

They don’t listen to him though. Nobody comes to his room to tell him to shut up, and nobody tells him what he did to get himself in here.

 

In fact, Dean doesn’t come out of his room for a while. There’s no clock in the room, and there’s no window so he can’t see light and dark pass, but Dean tries to estimate that about three days pass before a nurse comes along and unlocks his door.

 

“You can go into the common room if you’d like, Mr Ambrose,” The nurse stands outside of his room, leaving the door wide open. Dean eyes her sceptically before sliding from his bed, she doesn’t move when he approaches her slowly.

 

“There are other patients in there, so please be friendly, Mr Ambrose.” Dean suppresses a scoff, be friendly, isn’t he always? Dean steps out of his room and past the nurse, who just stands with her arms crossed against her chest and watches him disappear before she shuts his door.

 

In the common room, about ten other patients are scattered about doing their own respective things. A few of them look up when he walks in the room, but none of them move to speak or acknowledge him. He’s thankful for that, because he doesn’t want to be friends with nut jobs. Dean shuffles over to the seat that is attached to the wall and spans the length of it. Across from him, there’s a girl with dark hair and she’s picking at the ends of it.

 

He scans his eyes across the room, and he’s more than surprised to find that nobody is hugging their knees and rocking back and forth while muttering completely incoherent things. Some watch television while some read, others, like himself, sit and stare at the walls until the nurses usher them into their rooms.

 

Dean doesn’t know how many days – weeks maybe – pass with him doing the same thing. He sleeps, he eats, he sits and stares at the walls before he eats again, he showers, he sleeps. Nobody tells him what he’s here for, when he’s getting out and none of the other patients try to talk to him. Nobody talks to anybody, and Dean’s days become silent. The only sound he ever hears is the drone of the television, the shuffling of feet, and the soft sound of _“I’m scared,”_ ringing quietly in his head before he falls asleep.

 

-

 

Dean’s sitting in his usual seat against the wall when he hears a voice. A soft voice, and its familiar, so very familiar but he doesn’t recognise the person who speaks. This guy, who’s just come down the corridor with a nurse and said a simple ‘thank you’ to her when she passes him some pills. The voice rings loud in his head, he hears it over and over again, repeating itself like a mantra because it’s so familiar.

 

_(“I’m scared,”)_

The guy sits down on an empty sofa, and throws his head back as he swallows the pills. His hair is strikingly different to everyone in the room. One side is dark, but the other is a light blonde colour, bleached or something he guesses.

 

Dean wants him to speak again, so he can hear the softness of his voice, so he can place why it’s so fucking familiar. He tries to place it, he really does. But he knows that he doesn’t know this guy, he’s pretty sure he’d remember someone who looked like him, someone as pretty as him.

 

_(“I’m scared,”)_

But as much as he wants to, Dean doesn’t approach him. Every time Dean pumps himself up to do it – because damn, he really needs to hear his voice again – he sees the look on his face, the angry scowl that seems perfectly carved into his pretty features, and decides against it. Because as much as he wants – _needs –_ to hear that voice again, Dean doesn’t want to make any enemies in this place. The look on his face, the one that seems to scream _(“I’m scared,”),_ tells Dean to just back off, he doesn’t want to talk to anybody.

 

And Dean respects that, because he doesn’t really want to talk either. After days and days of just endless silence, Dean doesn’t even think he has a voice anymore.

 

So, he leaves him be. He tries not to pray that the guy opens his mouth whenever he sees him in the common room, but he does.

 

-

 

_“Dean,” a soft voice whines, it sounds like a plea, and Dean can definitely tell that he’s pouting. The room is dark, he can only see the silhouette of the person sitting beside him on the bed. He laughs a little, and lets his hand travel further down the soft skin underneath his fingers until he reaches the waistband of underwear sitting against smooth hips. He stops, and starts to draw slow, soft circles with the pad of his thumb._

_“Do you remember the day we met?” Dean’s voice is quiet in the dark room, but he gets a soft, throaty moan when he moves his thumb under elastic._

_“Yeah, yeah I do.” Comes the strangled reply. Dean smiles, and presses his lips to shoulder blades._

_“You hated me,” There’s a sharp intake of breath as Dean lets his teeth sink into skin._

_“You, were kind of,” A moan fills the room when Dean lets his tongue flick over the broken skin, “an asshole.” Dean hums quietly, pressing his fingers into the skin beneath them._

_“I was,” Dean agrees, gently nipping the shoulder blades again. The skin is so soft against his lips, he just wants to mark it all. Wants the body to scream, “I’m taken!” So he bites again, earning him a throaty moan._

_“But that’s only because I wanted you to notice me.” Dean continues, tongue soothing the now sweaty skin._

_There’s a moment of silence, and it passes by gently._

_“I’d have noticed you anyway, Dean.” The voice is so soft, so loving that Dean smiles. It’s so dark in here that it couldn’t be seen, but Dean feels like his cheeks are going to split. He looks up at the silhouette beside him, and with aching cheeks says,_

_“I love you.” Silence.  A soft breath._

_“I love you too, Dean.”_

-

 

AJ creeps out of her room once the lights have been out for a while. She sticks to the shadows and glides down the corridor like she does nearly every night, and prays she doesn’t get caught. She hasn’t been caught yet, though there have been more close encounters than she can afford.

 

She tiptoes into the common room before getting on her hands and knees to craw behind the back of the large sofa in the middle of the room. The night nurse on duty is asleep at his desk, his breathing is heavy and loud, but AJ doesn’t take any chances and crawls around the back of the sofas until she’s past his desk. She’s done this so many times now; her heart really shouldn’t be beating as fast as it is.

 

AJ reaches the door that leads down into the basement and pushes it open. It’s dark, but she holds onto the railing of the stars as she descends.

 

She doesn’t quite know what went wrong with her. AJ is different to all the other patients. _She remembers._ She remembers everything about her old life, the one she had before she got here. She remembers her boyfriend, all tattoos and jokes, she remembers enjoying hiking with her father on a Saturday afternoon, and she remembers waking up screaming and tied to a hospital bed.

 

AJ realised she was different to everyone else when she tried talking to another patient called Layla. Layla remembered nothing about how she got in here, couldn’t remember what she was doing before this place. But AJ could, and that’s what scared her. Why was she so different?

 

She stumbled upon the basement one night when she was planning to try and break out. She knew it was a far away idea, because there were no windows, no doors to the outside world and escaping seemed like a near impossible task.

 

That was until she found the basement. The stairs led down to a room filled with filing cabinets. Inside them, were the files of every patient that had ever been admitted. There were hundreds of files, all with the same large red stamp spreading across the page. _Deceased._

 

AJ had wanted to vomit when she realised that nobody ever left this place alive. And it’s the reason why she comes here every night, pulling out random files and piecing together their medical history. She only has a limited amount of time each night, the night guard usually wakes up to check on them a few hours after lights out. But it gives AJ a chance to try and understand what went wrong with her.

 

Though she knows she’s not the only different one anymore. Because one of the newest patients, a guy with dirty blonde hair, seems different too. He’s observant, and he’ll often sit on the same wall seat as her and spend his afternoon staring into space. Or, like he has been most recently, starring at another patient. But it’s his eyes that make him stand out. He looks at this guy, the one with the funny two toned hair, with _recognition_ and _longing_ in his eyes. And yeah, maybe it’s just because this guy is like a work of art, but AJ knows, she can feel it, that he’s different too. And she wants to find out why. She wants to get out here, she wants to go back home, but she can’t do it on her own and she knows it. And this guy, he has to help her. He might be her only option.

 

AJ knows that she needs to get back to her room now, so she shoves tonight’s load of files back into their drawer and carefully makes her way back up the stairs.

 

She makes it to her room safely, and not long after, the night guard shines his flashlight through the window in her door.

 

-

 

_(“I’m scared,”)_


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “This voice, it’s always there. Telling me it’s scared, and when he spoke to that nurse the first day I saw him it was like, it was so loud but I couldn’t figure it out, and its killing me, he’s killing me, Rome. He’s trying to kill me.” Roman tries not to think about Seth standing over a bleeding Dean, but the image sticks in his mind anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so chapter three it is! this took a couple of attempts to feel like it was anything worthy of posting, and then battleground had me all like NOOOOOOOo. but anywhere, here is where seth's 'betrayal' starts to get explored and where the plot thickens (i think???) just a tad. idk i just really like writing protective roman! this chapter is mostly ambreigns so yeah. music for this chapter is and snakes start to sing by bring me the horizon and paranoid by black sabbath! oh and note; my tumblr has changed to psychrollins so if you'd like to drop me a message thats where i am! anyway ¬ i hope you enjoy and please drop me comment and tell me what you think!

Seth ducks out of his room quickly, his bare feet making slight thuds against the cold tiles. He’d been in this place, this hospital of some sort, for about two weeks now. He didn’t know the day, or the date for that matter, but he guessed it wasn’t really relevant. He’d be out soon, anyway. That’s what they’d promised him. The nurses, especially the one who came to give him his meds every day, told him that he was different to all the other patients. Seth just had one thing he needed to do, before he would be set free.

 

And maybe it’s his need for freedom, his need to feel the wind against his skin and grass beneath his feet that’s got him sneaking out of his room in the middle of the night with a pair of surgical scissors gripped tightly in his hand. The nurse – _Randy, as he’d told Seth to call him –_ hadn’t told him outright that this is what he needs to do, but he’d pretty much got the message when he’d left the surgical scissors on his bed and said that it would be lovely to be rid of a creature like that Ambrose guy.

 

But maybe it’s not all Seth’s need for freedom that’s got him creeping down the corridor with his head racing and his heart thumping. There’s just _something_ inside of him, it’s scratching at his bones, pushing and pushing until Seth feels like it’s going to burst out of his skin and _devour_ him. And every time, every time he sees Ambrose – _funny name that, but that’s what Randy refers to him as so, it’s all he’s got_ – looking at him, he just wants to tear his skin from his bones.

 

He feels so angry, like there’s fire licking at his feet, threatening to consume him until he looks away, until he gets away from him. It’s how Seth talked himself into getting this far – _he’s in front of Ambrose’s room now, he’s so close, but the weapon feels heavy in his hands_ – he hates the guy so much, if he doesn’t do this, this _thing_ beneath his skin is surely going to rip him to shreds.

 

Through the small window in Ambrose’s door, Seth can see him asleep in his bed. He looks peaceful, his dirty blonde hair is spewed across the pillow in little, curly wisps and his lips are slightly parted. And though Seth knows he should smile at the sight, should be happy that at least someone is able to sleep in this place, he doesn’t. He feels the anger climbing its way up his spine, using each and every vertebra as a separate rung on the ascent into Seth’s head.

 

His mind swarms, there’s a tiny voice, something very quiet and sounding very distant shouting at him, but he can’t quite make out the words. Seth pushes away the sounds though, pushes away the slight feeling of warm fingers on the back of his neck and reaches for the handle to Ambrose’s door.

 

Seth’s movement are slow, so slow that he barely makes a sound as he pushes open the door. He stands next to the bed for a minute, deliberating his next move. Does he just, just stab him in the neck; let the guy bleed to death? Or does he slash him as many times as he can? How should he know how to do this, he’s never done it before, has he? At least he doesn’t think he has, he can’t seem to string together many thoughts besides the ones he has when Ambrose is staring at him.

 

He puts his knee on the edge of the bed ever so slightly, to get a better angle, and rears his arm back as far as it can go.

 

-

 

Roman doesn’t feel like he can breathe properly as the two toned guy rears his arm back, and his body works on instinct when he runs at the guy full force. His shoulder hits him unusually hard and his cry of pain breaks the thickness of the air around them.

 

He’d seen him pass by his room, looking awfully shifty, and because he couldn’t sleep, Roman had followed him. He’d had no idea that this guy, the polite one in the common room, was on such a war path. And as soon as he’s stopped outside that particular room – _and he’ll try to deny that his heart had almost burst out of his chest, because anyone, it could be anyone; just not, not this guy ok? –_ Roman’s whole body had frozen.

 

Was he really going to try and _kill_ him? Yes, he was, and Roman needed to stop him.

 

The scissors go flying out of his hands and clatter against the wall. Roman’s hands fly to the neck of the guy underneath him as he straddles him. The boy, or man or _idiot_ beneath him tries to struggle free but Roman is far too strong and holds him in place. Roman looks up to the bed and sees – _the nurses call him Mr Ambrose, and Roman thinks that suits him rather well, such a handsome gentleman -_ Ambrose wide eyed with his hands clutched to his cheek, blood seeping between the spaces in between his fingers.

 

“You ok?” Roman asks, even though he can see he’s fine, apart from the gash, he’s not dead. Ambrose breathes heavily, looking at the large man strangling a very pretty boy on his floor and nods. He doesn’t know why he nods, because he’s not ok because what the hell is going on? Roman nods too, before turning his attention back to the person beneath him and looks at him with hard eyes.

 

“You were going to kill him.”

 

He doesn’t get an answer; he gets a punch to the gut.

 

He also gets pushed to the floor by the overweight night guard. Roman doesn’t have time to fight back or struggle, before he can even blink, a swarm of nurses are grabbing onto his arms and legs. Their grips are rock solid and between the six of them, they manage to wrestle him to the ground before the nurse who gives him his meds jabs a needle into his arm.

 

Roman’s eyes are open just long enough to see the same thing happen to Ambrose, while the two toned guy gets helped to his feet. Roman sees red before he can’t see anything else.

 

-

 

When Dean cracks an eye open, he finds himself in a cell. His whole body is stiff from sleeping on the floor and his cheek is sore. He groans slightly as he pushes himself into a sitting position, he cracks his back and rolls his shoulder before gently touching his cheek.

 

_Ah, yeah, I remember._ The pretty boy had tried to slash him or something. The gash runs from the top of his cheek to the bottom, narrowly missing his lips. The wound is stitched, and he knows it’s going to leave a mean looking scar.

 

“Hey, Ambrose,” Dean whips his head around the cell, what the hell? There’s nobody in the room, and his eyes can’t seem to find a speaker above him either.

 

“Down here you idiot.” Dean’s eyes travel to the side of him, where there’s a small opening in the wall covered by bars. There’s a hand curled around the bars and Dean shuffles so that he’s on his stomach and can see through the gaps. On the other side, also in a cell, is the big guy.

 

“What are you doing in there?” Dean asks, brow furrowed in confusion, the guy saved him right so why is he locked up? On second thoughts, why is he even locked up? He didn’t do a damn thing!

 

“D’know man, didn’t think saving a guys ass meant getting yourself locked up. You ok, though?”

 

“Think so, thanks, though. You didn’t have to do anything last night,”

 

“Nah man, couldn’t let you get killed in your sleep. I’m Roman, by the way.” The guy – _Roman, that’s nice and, awfully familiar? –_ slides his large hand through the bars to shake Dean’s hand.

 

“Roman – _and the name feels funny on his tongue, tastes weird, like he’s said it a million times before –_ nice to meet you, I’m Dean,” He shakes Roman’s hand and smiles as much as he can with the gash on his cheek.

 

“Dean. So, you got any idea why that two toned freak tried to kill you?” Roman arches an eyebrow and Dean takes a moment to appreciate how striking his eyes are.

 

“Nope, I mean apart from the fact that I may or may not have checked him out a few times, I haven’t interacted him with any way,”

 

Roman nods and shuffles, obviously getting more comfortable and scratches his head absentmindedly before looking back to Dean.

 

“There’s something not quite right with him. He’s like really polite to the nurses, and then he tries to kill someone. I just, you think he’ll try again?”

 

Dean shrugs, though the thought of having to sleep with an eye open doesn’t appeal to him.

 

“Maybe, don’t see why he wouldn’t. Didn’t get the job done the first time, might go for a second.”

 

“Well, I got your back man. I’m just down the corridor.” Dean smiles a little, because yeah, that didn’t just make his heart flutter a little. He nods to say thank you, and that he understands and he’s grateful.

 

There’s a moment of silence between the two that Dean enjoys, before there’s the crushing sound of his cell door opening that breaks the small moment of peace. Dean quickly moves away from the grate before the nurses enter his room.

 

-

 

Despite what Roman said when they were in the cells – _which Dean finds out that only he and Roman got put in isolation, and two toned (or Rollins as someone had mentioned), the guy who tried to kill him, just got sent back to his room –_ Dean didn’t think that he’d speak to Roman again.

 

He was wrong though. And as soon as they’re allowed in the common room, Roman sits next to him. And it causes a lot of the other patients to actually start _talking_ because it’s not every night that there’s an attempted murder.

 

Rollins hasn’t tried to attack him again, but Dean’s not sure whether it’s because he doesn’t want to, or the fact that whenever Rollins so much as looks at Dean, Roman’s glaring at him so intensely that Rollins has to look away. And yeah, Dean has to admit that he finds Roman’s protectiveness a bit of a turn on. He doesn’t tell him that though.

 

-

 

Roman’s got his hand on Dean’s knee and his fingers are tracing slow, lazy circles as they talk about everything and anything when a dark haired girl drops something hard and shiny into Dean’s lap. He looks at it for a moment, stunned at the presence of someone other than Roman, before looking at her. She smiles a little before jerking her head backwards. Dean’s eyes follow her motion and he notices Rollins alone on one of the couches lying on his back and staring at the ceiling.

 

“We’ll talk later.” The dark haired girl gives him a firm nod before skipping away, her hair swaying side to side down her back. Dean picks the object up from his lap and instantly knows what it is.

 

Dean turns himself towards the wall slightly, lifting his knee so that his leg conceals his hands, and gently presses his thumb over the catch. The blade releases itself quickly, and it glints slightly underneath the lights that shine above him. Roman’s eyes widen a fraction, but his hand doesn’t move from Dean’s knee, he just watches as Dean runs a finger along the blade and presses the pad of his index finger to the tip.

 

When a small drop of blood forms on Dean’s finger, he flips the blade closed and shoves it into his pocket.

 

“Where d’you think she got it from?” Roman asks quietly, grabbing onto Dean’s hand before he can wipe the blood away on his jeans. He grips Dean’s wrist firmly, but doesn’t let his fingers dig into the fleshy part, and inspects the small cut. He applies pressure around the area, causing more blood to come to the surface, and Dean just looks at him before shrugging.

 

“Not sure, I mean, how would she get it in here?” Dean’s momentarily mesmerised as Roman leans down and takes Dean’s bloodied finger into his mouth, gently licking the blood from the cut. It takes Dean a lot to stop the moan from leaving his throat. Roman smirks when he lets go of Dean’s hand, and Dean tries hard not to whine at the loss of contact.

 

“You think she knows something? I mean, why else would she give you a weapon, if it weren’t for you to defend yourself with?” Roman scoots a little closer to Dean, so that their knees touch and their legs tangle together. He lets his head rest upon the wall and goes back to drawing patterns with his fingers on Dean’s knee.

 

Dean sighs, “I guess so. But why does she care? I mean, it’s not going to make her world any different if she wakes up tomorrow morning and I’ve had my throat cut open.” Roman frowns, fingers pressing into Dean’s knee just a little bit harder.

 

“That’s not going to happen,” Roman growls, eyes growing dark and turning to glare at the two toned Rollins sprawled out on the couch. “Because I’m not going to let it happen. I know you can look after yourself, alright, but just, I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.”

 

Dean smiles a little and Roman’s eyes soften. “You always this protective over people?” Dean pokes at the fingers dancing on his knee cap.

 

“Only of special people.” Dean grins, eyes crinkling and dimples showing, _special people._

-

 

“His name is Seth, Seth Rollins,” The dark haired girl is called AJ, and Dean and Roman finally get to talk to her after lights out.

 

AJ is apparently the answer to the pretty murderous boy that wants to slash Dean’s throat, because she seems to know everything.

 

“And he’s only got it out for Dean, he doesn’t care about anyone else.” AJ continues quietly. She’s sitting cross legged on the floor of Dean’s room and the two look down at her from their positions on the bed.

 

“But why?” Dean raises an eyebrow, what’s so bloody awful about him? AJ frowns and lets out a long, quiet breath.

 

“This is the part that you really have to listen to, and you have to believe me,” Roman looks at AJ expectantly, urging her to continue.

 

“Seth’s going after you, because he knows you. Before you got here, you knew each other,” Dean’s breath catches in his throat - _(“I’m scared,”) -_ and his ears ring loud with the words AJ just said. AJ settles her gaze on Roman before smiling sadly, “All three of you knew each other. You came in together.”

 

Last night, AJ had done her regular nightly basement trip, and was trying to find out more about Dean, when she’d stumbled across a file. A file that explained that three friends, Seth, Dean and Roman, were the newest patients and would be under observation. But what caused AJ to read on, was the large stamp on Seth’s file that said “ _Subject X”_

 

“But, how? I don’t, I’ve never, I don’t remember them.” Roman’s voice is quiet and almost afraid of the words coming from his mouth. He looks at Dean, looks at his eyes and his lips and the small earring in his ear and tries so hard to remember him, to see him anywhere but here and he can’t, it terrifies him.

 

“You remember Seth, don’t you Dean?” AJ’s voice somewhat hopeful, but it causes Dean to snap to attention.

 

“No. I don’t remember him, that’s the problem. He’s so,” Dean flusters, his legs shaking and becoming twitchy as he thinks about that soft voice that he hears every night and the feeling of a scruffy beard tickling his neck.

 

“He’s just so familiar, like I can hear him in the back of my head but I don’t have a clue who he is.” Dean finally says, letting his head drop in his hands. Roman’s hand moves to Dean’s knee and gives it a reassuring squeeze.

 

“Hey, it’s ok man.”

 

“Something went wrong, with the two of you,” AJ pushes herself from the floor, she knows she’s got to get back to her room, the night guard will do his round shortly.

 

“I don’t know everything yet, I haven’t got long enough to find out everything, but I will. Whatever I find, I’ll tell you. There’s something going on Dean, and it goes far deeper than Seth wanting to hurt you because you checked him out a few times. Just, stay safe until I can get more, alright?” AJ lets herself out of Dean’s room and Roman watches as the door closes softly behind her.

 

“I’m sorry,” Is what Dean says first, cutting the silence in the room, and Roman frowns at him.

 

“I’m sorry that I don’t remember you.”

 

Roman gently slides his arm around Dean’s waist, like he’s expecting resistance that he doesn’t get, and pulls Dean into him.

 

“You don’t have to be sorry about that, Dean. If anything, I should be sorry. I don’t remember you at all. Or Roll- _Seth._ At least you two have some sort of, _inkling_ about each other, I don’t know either of you,” Roman confesses, his hand threading into Dean’s hair and playing with the ends of a few blonde curls.

 

“This voice, it’s always there. Telling me it’s scared, and when he spoke to that nurse the first day I saw him it was like, it was so loud but I couldn’t figure it out, and its killing me, _he’s killing me_ , Rome. He’s trying to kill me.” Roman tries not to think about Seth standing over a bleeding Dean, but the image sticks in his mind anyway. He pulls Dean closer and presses a kiss to his head.

 

“Not gonna let him Dean, not gonna let him.”

 

_(“I’m scared,”)_


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seth sees red. Lots of red, it’s in his head and coating Dean’s chest and Seth’s body shakes. It shakes so much that Seth feels like his skins going to fall off, he grips Dean’s blood soaked shirt, fingers trying to cling, clawing and coating them red. 
> 
> Seth doesn’t feel the nurses drag him from the room kicking and screaming Dean’s name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello my lovelies, i understand that its been a while since i last updated, and i just want to say sorry! i went on vacation and then when i got back, i ended up writing and re writing this like thousands of times because i wasn't happy with it. but now i'm sort of happy with it, i feel that if i write it again i'm just going to end up throwing my laptop off the wall. so anyway, the plot thickens properly here, it's a little short but i couldn't make it longer without too much going on so, yay for short chapter! i want to thank everyone who's read, commented/reviewed, gave kudos and sent messages to my tumblr, you're all wonderful and i thank you for your support! warning of violence in this chap, in case blood makes people cringe! i hope you all enjoy, and as always, my tumblr is psychrollins if you'd like to drop me a message! comments are welcome and they always make me smile!

_The sun is warm as it beats down on Dean’s bare back and he’s squinting so he can see out to sea, where Roman seems to be getting chatted up, buy a dude. And well, as far as Roman’s concerned, he’s straight. Dean tries to contain his laughter as the guy reaches out to touch Roman’s arm and his friend just sort of looks at it with a weird look on his face. Yeah, it’s probably about time somebody went and saved the poor bastard._

_Dean turns to Seth – beautiful, pretty, pretty Seth – and gently pokes him in the ribs. Seth squirms a little and swats away his hand._

_“I think you should go and save our little Roman.” Seth arches an eyebrow and sits up in the sun lounger, his eyes settling on his friend and the random stranger near the shore._

_“Dean, Roman is not little, and besides, why can’t you go and help him?” Dean slips his fingers through Seth’s and smiles – so that he knows his dimples will show, knows it will get him whatever he wants with Seth – he presses a light kiss to Seth’s knuckles before he speaks._

_“Because I’m lazy. And anyway, Roman would probably punch me if I pretended to be his boyfriend, you’re you – you can get away with it,” Seth rolls his eyes, because he knows Dean is right, and squeezes Dean’s hand before pushing himself up._

_Dean’s eyes travel the length of Seth’s body as he makes his way down to the shore. It was Seth’s idea to come to the beach, as a sort of friendship rekindling trip. Not that they really needed it, but Dean and Roman had had a bit of a alpha male butting of heads last week and Seth really just wanted to smooth everything over._

_He watches as Seth reaches Roman, and wastes no time in swinging his arm around Roman’s waist and leaning into him like Dean does when someone tries to hit on Seth. There’s a small exchange of words, and Roman’s face goes from “what the fuck” to “yeah, sorry man” in about three point five seconds. The guy tries to pass it off, laughing and joking, but Dean can see the defeated look on his face, even from this far away. Before the guy can leave though, Seth leans up on his tip toes and presses a slight kiss to Roman’s lips._

_And Dean should be mad, should be raging and wanting to tear the both of them apart, but he’s not, and his cock stirs._

_Dean doesn’t think about anything else for the rest of the day. It’s like porn movie stuck on repeat in his head, Seth’s moaning loudly as Roman pounds into him. Dean knows he’s well and truly fucked._

Dean opens his eyes quickly, and whatever was playing in his head quickly fades away. When his breathing settles, Dean’s aware of the large body pressed against his back. _Roman._ Dean turns himself over, so he’s facing his new friend and smiles slightly at the sight before him. Roman’s lips are slightly parted and soft breaths escape them every so often. Roman’s arms curl around Dean, pulling him closer. Dean knows that he should wake him, because he doesn’t know what would happen if the nurses came by and saw them _cuddling,_ but Roman is so warm and comforting that Dean decides he doesn’t give a fuck what happens to them, and relaxes in Roman’s arms.

xXx

 

 

Tamina Snuka is sat in her new office flicking through some files. She rubs at her eyes furiously, willing the tears to go away. Greenwoods Mental Institution was never meant to end up this way. When William Regal and Vince McMahon had cut the ribbon, declaring the new institution open on the day she turned seven, it was meant to be a place of rehabilitation. A place where those from the general hospital who suffered from severe mental health issues could come to go through therapy, undisturbed.

 

And it had been that institution until three years ago, when William had become ill, and Vince had to do a lot of the work. She knew, though, what was going to happen in William’s absence. Vince McMahon was a vile man, concerned with only himself and his money, and he didn’t care what he did and what sort of affects it had as long as he was making large sums. So when doctor Hunter Hearst Helmsley, an extremely wealthy scientist offered him a business proposition, Vince couldn’t refuse.

 

Greenwoods no longer took in patients from the general hospital, instead, it took its patients in the most gruelling way. Unknowing young people with a taste for adventure was all they were.

 

In her hands, is the file of one of Greenwoods newest patients and their very first experimental test subject, Seth Rollins. She knows that she could have stopped whatever they’ve done to him, had she been here when he was first admitted. But when William passed away last month, Vince had given her a couple of weeks off to sort everything out, and then she could return to work in a higher position.

 

Of course, he wouldn’t have given her that higher position had he known about AJ.

 

Sweet, pretty young AJ. She was originally their first experiment, the experiment that had been three months in the making. Tamina wasn’t supposed to know, classified, but Randy Orton has a big mouth. And when she’d told William, even though he barely had enough energy to leave his house, the two of them worked together to make a counteract.

 

They barely got it done in time, as Tamina had had to do so much snooping around to find out what was actually going to happen to their first patient in order to actually stop it, but she’d managed to get to institution as the new patient was being wheeled in. And as soon as she saw her, a small girl with dark hair and blood dripping from her head, Tamina hadn’t wanted something to work so much in her life.

 

Hunter’s new creation was a small electronic chip that controlled the patient. They still had full control of their own minds, they thought for themselves, but Hunter’s chip planted emotions in them. Combined with selective memory wiping, the chip controls how the patient feels towards certain things. This, Hunter hoped, would give him the power to manipulate anyone into doing anything, without anyone second guessing.

 

The counteract would block the nerve cells in the patient’s brain for a certain amount of time, to stop any electromagnetic impulses from the chip altering it, without it causing harm.

 

And when Tamina had been asked to prep the young girl, patient O, for an anaesthesia just in case, she administered the counteract.

 

The nurse couldn’t get patient O’s body to respond to the chip, no matter how many times they tried, and so it was back to the drawing board.

 

William had died only a few weeks later, so Tamina hadn’t been able to see just how well the counteract had worked.

 

Pretty much the same thing had been done to Seth, and even though she hadn’t been there to stop it, Hunter’s experiments hadn’t gone as they should have. Seth’s body wasn’t reacting the way it should and the nurses often found that his mind would override the chip, while still doing what they wanted him to do. Yet despite the problems, Hunter was reluctant to take the chip out.

 

Whatever they were trying to achieve, Tamina was going to stop it, for William – the man who took her in when she had no one else – she was going to make sure Greenwoods was put right.

 

 

xXx

 

 

Seth couldn’t quite understand why he felt so infuriated when the big guy – _Roman, or something like that_ – touched Dean ( _he’d finally learnt his name, and if he’s honest, he prefers it to just Ambrose)_ like they were _something_. This _thing_ inside of him seemed to snarl loudly whenever they were close, he would feel it wanting to just claw its way out and maul Roman – _(get the fuck off him, he’s mine!) –_ until there was nothing left of him.

 

But Seth still needed to get rid of Dean. He hadn’t been successful last time, because of certain _interruptions,_ and now he seemed to have _friends._ He’d slipped towards his room again last night, surgical scissors heavy in his hand, and had stopped at the door when he saw Roman wrapped around him possessively.

 

He’s sitting in the common room on the couch, glaring at Dean, Roman and a dark haired girl huddled together in the corner of the room. Seth knows it’s his fault that he’s sitting alone, because he did try to slash Dean’s throat in the middle of the night, but he’d like at least somebody other than Randy the nurse to speak to him.

 

Roman catches Seth looking at them and Seth swears that if looks could kill, he’d surely be a bloody mess all over the white tiled floor. Seth looks away quickly, but continues to feel eyes on him and his skin prickles white hot.

 

He hears that familiar snarl inside his head, feels the flames crawling up his skin and licking at his brain. He’s so _angry_ and he doesn’t know why. It sort of just starts to consume him at the smallest things, swallows him whole and suddenly he’s drowning in his anger and he doesn’t know how to swim.

 

 

xXx

 

 

“Wait, so you’re telling me that you ended up here after visiting an old house?” Roman arches an eyebrow up at AJ, he wants to believe what she’d just told them, but it’s sort of hard to.

 

AJ nods, hair swishing around her face, “I can’t remember how exactly I ended up in here, but I know it involved a lot of screaming and glass smashing.” AJ sighs, looking at her fourth finger on her left hand and tracing the visible line around it. Where the eternity ring her boyfriend had brought her used to sit, is now just a perfect line of smooth skin, and no ring. She had no idea where it was. “I know it sounds stupid, but I’m pretty sure that’s how we all ended up here. I’ve read a lot of the files, Roman, nobody leaves here. And none of you remember anything, why am I different? Why can I remember that outside of these walls I have a boyfriend, does he know I’m here? Nothing makes sense Roman, but you have to believe me.”

 

Roman sighs, “I do believe you AJ, it’s just, hard ok? There’s just so much to take in. But I’ll, we’ll help you do whatever you gotta’ do to find out.” Roman says, gently nudging her knee with his hand.

 

“Just focus on keeping this one alive,” AJ taps Dean on the shoulder, he looks at her and blinks in confusion. “You alright there, Ambrose?”

 

Dean shakes his head a little, clearing his thoughts, “Yeah, sorry, just thinking.” Roman slips his hand into Dean’s, because he knows what he’s thinking. When Roman looks to the couch again, Seth is no longer there.

 

“I’ll leave you two to have your moment; I’ll see you guys later.” AJ jumps down from the wall seat and skips away, leaving her two new friends to have some private time.

 

At first, AJ intends to go back to her room, but does a little detour on the way there. From down the corridor, she hears raised voices. She creeps closer, and finds that the voices are coming from one of the nurses offices and the door is slightly open.

 

“Randy, you said he’d be able to do it. You said he understood!”

 

“He does understand! Last time there was a glitch, that’s all. Seth’s going to do it tonight.”

 

“And what about Roman Reigns, is he going to get in the way again?”

 

“No. He’s going to be taken care of.”

 

“Good.”

 

 

xXx

 

 

“What have I done? Huh? I haven’t done anything!” Roman screams, kicking and thrashing against the nurses who are struggling to restrain him. There are five of them, and they’re pushing him to the floor while trying to the needle in his arm. One of the bigger nurses kicks him in the ribs and he feels it shake his bones and it just knocks the breath right out of his body and the nurses manage to jab the needle in his arm.

 

One of the nurses grabs his face forcefully and leans in close, leering at him.

 

“Now there’s no one to save your little friend, should have said goodbye.”

 

 

xXx

 

 

Dean’s half asleep when the door to his room is swung open, and Seth barrels in. He’s on the bed in seconds, wielding the surgical scissors like a lunatic, aiming for any part of Dean’s body he can. He slashes at Dean’s arms which are held up in defence, but Dean manages to push Seth onto the floor.

 

“Why the fuck do you want to kill me?” Dean shouts, attempting to knock the scissors from Seth’s hand, but all it does is earn him another slash to his hand. When Seth doesn’t respond, Dean smashes his fist across his face.

 

“Fuck you!” Seth spits a mouthful of blood into Dean’s face, causing him to loosen his grip on Seth’s wrists. Immediately, Seth uses all his force to drive the scissors across Dean’s chest, and Seth sees red. Lots of red, it’s in his head and coating Dean’s chest and Seth’s body shakes. It shakes so much that Seth feels like his skins going to fall off, he grips Dean’s blood soaked shirt, fingers trying to cling, clawing and coating them red.

 

Seth doesn’t feel the nurses drag him from the room kicking and screaming Dean’s name.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s a moment, right before he brings blade to skin and swipes, that he sees Dean. See’s Dean hovering above him, smirking, eyes glittering and blown wide with lust. With each flick of his wrist, each new line of pulsing heat and red, Dean flickers. Seth can feel his fingers on his skin, on his face, slow and smooth, down his chest, pressing a little harder, on his thighs, digging and scraping. 
> 
> There’s blood everywhere now, streaming down his arms and onto the floor. He can see Dean’s chest covered in blood, his head’s swimming and all he can think of is Dean, all he can here is Dean, all he can see is Dean covered in blood and it’s all his fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, my lovelies. first of all, i would like to apologise for how late i'm updating this, and the confusion that may have occured when this kept saying the last update was on the 16th of july. for some reason, that was the set publication date, so some people might not have seen this had gotten updated. sigh. anyway, thats fixed now and here i am with a new chapter! warnings (even though i tried to put it in the tags, i'm not sure if its putting them in!) for self harm, homphobic slur and bullying. this is a filler, of sorts, but important in the next couple of chapters. we start to find out what seth's actually going through, why he does what he does, what's actually wrong with him. (if you've got any ideas, shoot me a message at my tumblr psychrollins, i'd love to here your thoughts!) i really hope you enjoy this, and sorry again for any confusion (and this long ass notes, i ramble) and thank you for all the kudos/comments and stuff, thank you.

Roman wakes up with his head spinning and his ribs hurting like hell. He’s slumped uncomfortably on cold tiles and the reality of what happened hits him. _Dean._ He didn’t need to be there to know something bad was going to happen, the nurse that told him he should have said goodbye told him that. But now he knows that this goes further than that Seth guy wanting to hurt Dean, people want to hurt Dean. _People want Dean dead._

 

Roman wraps an arm around his middle as he pushes himself from the floor to lean against the wall. His ribs are hurting a lot, but he’s pretty sure they’re not broken at least. He’s more worried about Dean, because he’s stuck back in the cell where he spoke to Dean the first time and he doesn’t know whether he’s ok or not.

 

He huffs out a sigh – ignoring the stinging it brings to his ribs – and tries to think positively. Dean’s smart, and strong, he could take on Rollins, right? That’s if he hadn’t been asleep when anything happened. Roman curses himself for letting himself think like that, and tries to get it out of his head. If anything’s happened to Dean, then he’s going to damn well do something about it. If there’s something going on – which there has to be, with what that nurse said – then he’ll find out and he’ll avenge whatever fate’s become of Dean. He can’t deny it any longer, the feelings he’s been having for a while; well he definitely has a major crush on the guy. But he can’t do anything about it if Dean’s dead.

 

He really needs to talk to AJ. She seems to know a lot, so maybe together they can figure this whole thing out and just get back to wherever they came from. Wherever that is, he doesn’t even remember.

 

Roman paces around the cell for what seems like hours, trying his hardest not to think about Dean being seriously hurt or possibly dead, until the sound of keys in a lock fills the room. He’s ready to launch himself at whatever nurse has come for him this time – if it’s the one from last night then, they better have some strong medication to get him to stay down this time – but when she comes into view, he stops himself. He’s never seen her before, but she looks a lot more important that all the other nurses. She’s wearing her own clothes underneath her white medical coat and her face doesn’t look hard and cold, more warm and friendly.

 

“Hello Roman, my names Tamina. How are you feeling?” She asks, slowly shutting the door behind her. Roman frowns at her, no nurse has ever asked about his wellbeing before.

 

“How do you think I feel after being held in here for no reason?” He grits out, fixing her with a cold glare.

 

She sighs and looks around the room, she checks each corner before her eyes finally settle back on Roman who’s perched back on the floor again. She steps over to him quickly and kneels down so that she’s face to face with him.

 

“Listen to me Roman, there’s something going on. I’m not all that sure what it is but I’m sure as hell going to find out. You’re a part of it now, whether you like it or not. So tell me everything you know and I’ll do what I can to help you.” She says, and Roman searches her face for a sign that she’s just like the other nurses, but he can’t find one.

 

“One of the other patients, Seth Rollins, is trying to kill my friend Dean.” Roman explains in a low voice. “I think he might have tried again last night, that’s why they put me in here.” He adds, looking at her shocked expression.

 

“Subject X.” She mutters under her breath, her hands slowly closing together in a fist. She suddenly turns to Roman with wide eyes, and takes hold of his shoulders.

 

“What else do you know?”

 

“Not much at all, other than the fact that Dean, Seth and I used to know each other before this place. That’s what AJ said anyway.”

 

“AJ? A small girl with dark hair?”

 

“Yeah, she’s unbelievable actually. She knows a lot, she says she remembers stuff from before.” Roman says, surprising himself with how much he’s actually telling her.

 

“Right ok, I’m going to go and see if Dean’s ok and I’ll come to you as soon as I find out. I want you to go to AJ and tell her that I’m gonna talk to her soon, ok? I’m gonna sort all this out, but I’m gonna need your help.” Roman nods, because it’s all he can do. Tamina leads him back to the main common room and tells him that she’ll go to the infirmary to check on Dean and tell him how he is as soon as she can. Roman thanks her and watches her scurry down the corridor and around a corner he didn’t even know existed. As soon as she’s gone, he takes off in the other direction to find AJ.

 

The other patients stare at him as he rounds the corner into the common room, AJ’s not with them, and that makes his heart race a little quicker. Dean and AJ are his only friends, and without them, if they’ve done anything to either of them, he’s not quite sure what he’ll do. Seth’s sitting in the corner on his own, chewing on his fingers, and Roman has to swallow down the urge to go right over to him and strangle him to death. He wants too, and he seriously doesn’t care if he kills the guy and leaves him a bloody mess on the floor; but if he’s in trouble he can’t see if Dean and AJ are ok. So he doesn’t, he backs up out of the room and tries AJ’s room. She’s not in there either, and Roman starts to worry.

 

He ends up going to Dean’s room, and finds her scrambling around under the bed.

 

“AJ, what the hell are you doing?” He shout whispers, checking behind himself as he shuts the door to Dean’s room. AJ snaps her head up to look at him, eyes wide and manic.

 

“Roman! Thank god you’re ok.” She flings herself from the floor and straight into Roman’s arms, her small body clutching to him tightly.

 

“Course I’m ok, what happened?” Roman wraps his arms around AJ’s small body, and she looks up at him with sad eyes.

 

“There was so much blood, Rome. They took him away and I haven’t seen him since.” AJ’s eyes cloud with tears, her small hands gripping onto his shirt. “I’m looking for the blade, if he’s got it on him, he’ll get into trouble.” AJ’s voice shakes with fear, so Roman holds onto her a little bit tighter.

 

“Don’t worry,” He soothes, stroking her hair. “I know exactly where Dean put the blade.” Roman releases AJ and slips over to the back wall of Dean’s room, where there’s a small chest of draws. They’re not used for anything, because all the drawers are nailed shut with the handles removed. Roman moves it to the side to reveal a small vent in the wall, and points too it.

 

“In there, he told me he put it there when a nurse came sniffing around the other day.” Roman pushes the drawers back over the vent and watches as AJ relaxes a little.

 

“There’s a nurse, called Tamina,” Roman starts quietly, taking hold of AJ’s elbow and guiding her out of Dean’s room. “She’s gone to see if Dean’s ok. She said she’s going to help us.”

 

AJ quirks an eyebrow, “Help us? Why would she help us?”

 

“Not sure,” Roman shrugs, “But she said there was something going on and that we were a part of it now and she was going to help us. She said she’s going to come to me as soon as she finds out how Dean is.” AJ nods as the two of them sit down in the common room. Roman notices that Seth is still sitting in the corner, but this time Seth notices him too, and his eyes go wide before he decides to scurry back to his room. Roman doesn’t know why Seth’s scared all of a sudden, if he can attempt to take a life, he shouldn’t be running like a dog with its tale between its legs.

 

 

xXx

 

 

_Seth keeps his head down as he navigates his way through the corridors of his latest high school. It’s not going to be any different, and he knows it. He’s going to get picked on like he did at his last two schools, and his mom will probably end up making him move again and the whole cycle will start again. Seth’s tried to fit in, he really, really has. He’s tried playing sports, tried keeping a low profile but he must have a massive, flashing neon sign over his head that says ‘pick on me!’ because that’s all people ever do._

_He makes it to his seat in maths without drawing much attention to himself, and he busies himself with his books while the rest of the class slowly filter into the room. The seat beside him remains empty, even when the teacher starts reading out their task. It’s only when fifteen minutes have passed, that the seat is filled. A tall, dark blonde haired guy struts in, wearing leather and walking like owns the whole school with a smirk on his face._

_“Mr Ambrose,” The teacher frowns, turning to watch the guy slink down into his chair beside Seth. “How nice of you to finally join us.” The guy salutes her, and she huffs in annoyance before turning back to the board. Seth goes to turn away too, but the guy winks at him before he can, and he feels his cheeks flush pink._

_+_

_Seth learns that the guy he sits next to in maths is called Dean, and he’s an asshole. He’s taken it upon himself to nickname Seth ‘pretty boy’ and he pinches his ass whenever he can. He doesn’t hate Dean, so to say, because at least he’s not beating the crap out of him like the other group of guys have been doing, but he’s annoying and it makes other people pay attention to him and he just doesn’t really want them to._

_Dean’s got a friend called Roman who’s not as much of an asshole as Dean, though he still laughs when Dean slaps his ass in the corridor and catcalls at him in gym. He has History with Roman, and though they don’t talk, he’s sort of appreciative of the glares Roman sends to the guy who kicks his ass most days._

_+_

_Most Friday afternoons, no matter how hard he tries to avoid them, Curtis Axel and his bunch of goons corner him in the locker rooms after gym. He’s not sure why they do it, because he never did anything to them. Seth gets it though, he’s new, he’s fresh meat and it’s what he’s used to anyway._

_Seth hears Curtis before he sees him, crashing around the almost empty locker room to make sure that everyone else leaves. His heart hammers in his chest, he hates going home holding onto his ribs and trying his hardest not to show the pain on his face so his mom won’t ask him questions and make them move again._

_“Look boys, little Rollins is ready and waiting for us.” Curtis laughs, loud and intimidating, slamming his fist into the locker beside Seth’s head. If there weren’t so many of them, if Seth weren’t so scared, he’d probably try and fight back. There’s a kick to the back of his knee which causes him to keen over and fall to the floor. It’s cowardly, really, how Curtis likes to attack him. They kick him while he’s on the floor and it feels like he’s in a fucking stampede until the boot kicking at his face is torn away._

_“What the fuck do you think you’re doin’ Axel?” Seth recognises the voice, all gruff and manly, but his heads hurting and his ribs are on fire so he can’t think properly. He forces his eyes open just enough to see Dean holding Curtis by the scruff of his collar._

_“None of your fuckin’ business Ambrose. Why’d you care about this kid anyway, you a fag too?” Curtis spits into Dean’s face, and Dean swiftly sends his fist into Curtis’ stomach._

_“This is my damn locker room, Axel. And I say you ain’t touchin’ the kid again, you got it? You ever touch him again and I swear to god I’ll kick your teeth so far down your damn throat you’ll be pissin’ em’ out for months!” Dean throws him against the lockers and Roman kicks him in the stomach a couple of times, just because he can. Curtis and his goons scramble after that, and Roman locks the locker room door to make sure they don’t come back for a blind attack._

_Seth’s still dazed, his body is on fire, but he’s aware of the warm hands sliding under his body and lifting him into a sitting position. He groans a little bit, feeling fingers press gently into his rib cage._

_“You’re lucky, kid. Nothing’s broken, just bruised.” It’s Roman, and now he’s touching his face, gently touching each and every cut and bruise._

_“Don’t worry, Seth. Curtis ain’t gonna’ touch you anymore, we’ll make sure of that.” Dean says, crouching down and wiping a bead of blood away from Seth’s lip._

_And Dean’s right. Curtis doesn’t touch Seth anymore. Nobody does, in fact. And it’s the day that Seth starts to fall in love with Dean Ambrose._

xXx

 

 

Seth’s body is white hot with pain. It’s electrifying, setting his nerves alight and burning throughout his entire body. He tries to scratch at it, tries pressing his fingers deep into his skin to just _stop_ it but nothing helps. It had started earlier on, just a low thrum of energy seemingly coursing through his veins, making him itch and fidget.

 

It kept getting stronger though, his skin getting hotter, fingers twitching that little bit more. He doesn’t know what it is, a severe case of pins and needles maybe, but he’s never felt anything like it before. It’s like there’s something inside him, so much stronger than the snarling voice, trying to push its way out, forcing and forcing until he feels like he’s going to shed his skin like a snake.

 

Seth throws himself onto the floor of his room, the heat of his body and the feeling of the sheets on his bed against his skin becoming too much. The tiles are cool, but they do nothing to stop the burning inside of him. It’s crawling, slowly and quickly all at once, up his spine and across his shoulders and all the way to the tips of his ears. He tries to shout for help, tries screaming for someone to come to him, but he can’t. The sound catches in his throat, clings to his tongue and refuses to move. He’s desperate now, he just wants it to stop, he doesn’t care how, even if he has to rip himself apart.

 

The surgical scissors Randy left are sitting on the floor, neatly tucked out of view under his bed and he can already feel them slicing across his skin. Cooling him down, unleashing the smoke, dousing him with relief.

 

Seth crawls on his belly, the sweat lining his skin sliding him across the floor, until his fingers wrap around the scissors. He pulls them towards himself, hands shaking uncontrollably.

 

There’s a moment, right before he brings blade to skin and swipes, that he sees Dean. See’s Dean hovering above him, smirking, eyes glittering and blown wide with lust. With each flick of his wrist, each new line of pulsing heat and red, Dean flickers. Seth can feel his fingers on his skin, on his face, slow and smooth, down his chest, pressing a little harder, on his thighs, digging and scraping.

 

There’s blood everywhere now, streaming down his arms and onto the floor. He can see Dean’s chest covered in blood, his head’s swimming and all he can think of is _Dean,_ all he can here is _Dean,_ all he can see is _Dean covered in blood_ and it’s all his fault.

 

 

xXx

 

 

Dean’s been strapped to the bed for a while now, and his whole body is aching and his chest really fucking hurts. They’d stitched him up pretty quickly last night, though they all seem to think that this is _his_ fault. And that’s why he’s strapped to the bed, to prevent _further incidents._

 

He’s not sure what this Seth Rollins has against him, but it’s something pretty big for him to try and kill him for a second time. He’s not very good at it though, because even though Roman hadn’t been there this time, he still hadn’t managed to get the job done.

 

His stitches are a little itchy, but he can’t do anything about seeing as his _fucking hands are tied down at his sides._ Dean knows he’s going to have a wicked scar though, another one to add to his collection. He wants to see Roman, see if he’s ok, after the stunt the nurses pulled on him earlier on in the evening. And AJ, because AJ always knows what to do when it comes to the situation they’re currently in.

 

“I’ve got him, Dr Neville, thank you.” Dean didn’t notice the nurses come into the room, and he watches as the short dark haired man nods his head at the taller, female nurse. Dean hasn’t seen her before, but she looks a lot more important than the other nurses. She lets the male nurse leave, and then locks the door behind him.

 

“Dean, my names Tamina. I’m here to help you, ok?” She digs inside her pocket, pulling out a key, and unlocks his hands from the restraints. He sooths the sore skin around his wrists before looking up at her with cold eyes.

 

“Why would you want to help me? None of the other nurses do.” Dean grumbles, rolling away the stiffness in his shoulders.

 

“That’s because I’m not like the other nurses. You just have to trust me, ok? I’ve spoken to Roman, he’s worried about you.” Dean perks up a little at Roman’s name. If Roman’s spoken to her, then maybe he should go along with her, sort of.

 

“Yeah?”

 

Tamina nods, “Yeah, he’s angry of course, but he’s ok. You’re a lucky guy, Dean. The slash across your chest could have killed you, if Seth had used anymore force.”

 

Dean growls, “Yeah, fuckin’ Seth Rollins. Out to kill me.”

 

“That’s where I come in. I’m gonna’ find out what’s going on, why Seth’s trying to kill you. But I’m gonna’ need your help, you, Roman and AJ. All of you need to stay safe, and stay alive. I’m gonna’ get you all out of here, ok?” Dean nods, because Tamina looks like she’s ready to set the worlds to right.

 

“You gotta’ stay in here for now, so your chest doesn’t get infected, but I’ll go and tell Roman you’re ok. I’ll come and see you later on, and then tomorrow you can get back to your Roman.” Tamina says, smiling slightly, and Dean blushes slightly.

 

It sounds nice though. Your Roman. _His Roman._


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Shut up, Dean." Seth laughs, shifting slightly on the bed. Dean's fully hovering over him now, a hand holding him either side of Seth's head.
> 
>  
> 
> "Make me, Rollins." Seth thinks he should push Dean off of him, that would make him shut up, and they'd play fight like they usually do. But Dean doesn't look like he wants to tickle Seth to death this time. There's a glint in his eyes, and Seth's not sure whether because he's got hold of Dean's dog tags or whether Dean's moving on his own accord, but Dean's face is getting impossibly close to his own. So close he can feel Dean’s breath on his lips, ghosting over them and making them tingle.
> 
>  
> 
> A few beats of silence pass, before Seth finally feels the press of Dean's lips against his own. It's everything he's been expecting and so much more. Dean's lips are soft and warm, and his body feels like it clicks into place against Seth's. One of Dean's hands moves to cup his cheek, his thumb tracing lazy circles over his skin as he kisses him slowly. Seth pulls Dean closer, if it's possible, using the dog tags as leverage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, i am extremely sorry for the lack of updates this has had. i just had a tiny bit of writers block, and college and general life. but enough with the excuses, i'm gonna' try and update a little more frequently from now on. so here we see the plot thicken more. ((i think this is still confusing, but its sort of supposed to be until we get to that aha! moment)) but i'm hoping that maybe a few people are starting put some things together and get an idea of whats going on. ((if anyones got any ideas, tell me! either here or at my tumblr psychrollins if you don't want anyone to see, i'd love to hear what you guys think!)) anyway, i hope this is enjoyable, and i promise that the ambreigns relationships gets explored next chapter ((as well as ambrollins and jealous!seth. wooo))

_Seth stands underneath the large oak tree behind the gates, waiting for Dean and Roman. He can't believe that he actually has friends now. Friends that look out for him and involve him in their lives. He's never had any of those friends before, so the thought that Dean and Roman, of all people, are actually his friends, is still something he's trying to get used to. The other students pass him without even looking his way, which comforts Seth more than it should. He didn't realize just how much power Dean and Roman had when it came to the school bullies, but apparently, if Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns tell you not to mess with someone, you don't mess with them. Curtis Axel and his bunch of goons hadn't touched him since the locker room incident that his new friends had stepped in on, so much so that Curtis hasn't even looked his way. School has significantly improved in a small number of weeks, and Seth has his friends to thank._

_Dean appears across the courtyard of the school, dressed in his usual leather jacket and jeans. Seth can never get over how good Dean looks when he strides towards him, and has to look away before Dean realizes that he's staring at him._

_"Hey Seth."_

_"Hey Dean, where's Roman?" Seth squints, looking across the deserted courtyard for any sight of their friend. Dean smiles just a little, swinging his arm around Seth's shoulders and leading him away from the school._

_"He's in detention, gonna' meet us later on. Just me and you for a bit, Sethiekins." Seth snorts, nudging Dean in the ribs with his elbow, but Dean doesn't loosen his grip on his shoulders._

_They head back to Seth's house, and Seth's mother coos over Dean, so happy that Seth has such a well mannered friend, and sends them up to Seth's room with drinks and snacks._

_"God, she is so embarrassing." Seth grumbles, kicking his door shut and placing the stuff on the table before belly flopping onto his bed. Dean follows him immediately, flopping directly onto Seth's back._

_"Nah, you're moms cool. At least she remembers to feed you." Dean huffs out a laugh as Seth flips himself over the best he can with Dean laying on top of him. It should be awkward, the position they're in, but it isn't, and neither of them care._

_"She actually left me in the supermarket once though," Seth says, playing with one of the dog tags that Dean's wearing around his neck. "She actually drove all the way home without me, only to get home and realize that she'd left me in the toys isle and when she came back I was crying my eyes out at the front desk." Dean can't help but laugh._

_"It's fair to say that she made sure she never went into that supermarket again."_

_"OK, I'll give you that one. But other than, she's pretty cool."_

_Seth sighs, fingers curling around the chains the dog tags are attached to. "If you say so."_

_"I do say so." Dean smirks, raising an eyebrow._

_"Shut up, Dean." Seth laughs, shifting slightly on the bed. Dean's fully hovering over him now, a hand holding him either side of Seth's head._

_"Make me, Rollins." Seth thinks he should push Dean off of him, that would make him shut up, and they'd play fight like they usually do. But Dean doesn't look like he wants to tickle Seth to death this time. There's a glint in his eyes, and Seth's not sure whether because he's got hold of Dean's dog tags or whether Dean's moving on his own accord, but Dean's face is getting impossibly close to his own. So close he can feel Dean’s breath on his lips, ghosting over them and making them tingle._

_A few beats of silence pass, before Seth finally feels the press of Dean's lips against his own. It's everything he's been expecting and so much more. Dean's lips are soft and warm, and his body feels like it clicks into place against Seth's. One of Dean's hands moves to cup his cheek, his thumb tracing lazy circles over his skin as he kisses him slowly. Seth pulls Dean closer, if it's possible, using the dog tags as leverage._

_Dean pulls away first, a little breathless, and lets his forehead rest against Seth's._

_"I've sort of wanted to do that for a while..." Dean admits, hand still resting on Seth's cheek._

_"I've sort of wanted you to do that for a while."_

_Dean smiles slightly, letting his eyes flutter closed, leaning down and kissing Seth again. It's not as slow this time, there's more heat behind it and Dean's hand moves down to rest on Seth's hip._

_"Seth, Dean! You guys decent, your mom let me up Seth!" Roman's voice shouts from the other side of the door, a thundering knock coming seconds later._

_Dean pulls away with an annoyed look painted across his face and Seth laughs softly._

_"We'll continue this later, promise." Dean says, pushing himself from Seth's bed. Seth straightens out his clothes and his hair as Dean goes over to the door and opens it, letting Roman in._

_"Why the fuck wouldn't we be decent? Fucking idiot."_

xXx

 

 

The pain in his neck is like a fierce burning, a constant fire held right up close to his skin and spreading to his spine. Seth slowly reaches a hand behind him and lets his fingers trail over the painful area. He can feel stitches there, but he's not sure why he's got them.

 

Seth sits up slowly, his eyes adjusting to the harsh, bright white light of the room. It's not his own room, he knows that for sure, but he doesn't think he's been here before. It's not like the isolation room he was put in that one time, and it's too small to be the medical room he's been in more than once. He looks down at his wrists, seeing the thick white bandages wrapped around them. Seth frowns, he has no idea why they're taped up, so he pulls at them until they're frayed enough for him to unravel them. It takes him more than a few minutes to get the first wrists unwrapped, and underneath are dozens of cuts, red and angry, littering his tanned skin.

 

Frowning, Seth moves on to his other wrist. This wrist takes him longer, it's bandaged more heavily and it hurts a lot more as he gets closer to the skin. When he final unravels it all, his eyes widen as he lets the bandage fall to the fall. This wrist is cut up pretty heavily too, but these are not just random cuts. Across the inside of his forearm, in large angry letters, is the name Dean.

 

Seth traces the letters, wincing when the cuts sting. Confusion floods through his head, he doesn't remember doing any of this to himself. Doesn't have any idea whether he's actually done this to himself, or whether this is Dean getting back at him.

 

Whenever he thinks of Dean, he gets this strange feeling. Like every nerve inside his body is just coming alive, setting his bones on fire. He doesn't know why, because all he does is have this overwhelming urge to kill him whenever he sees him. But then, whenever he tries, whenever he harms Dean in any way, it feels like his heart is being ripped out of his chest. He can't breathe, and the sight of Dean covered in blood sends him over the edge.

 

A nurse comes into the room and gives him a disapproving look when she sees the bandages on the floor. She cleans his cuts before wrapping them up again, this time doing a secure knot at the end, in hopes that Seth won't unravel them again. When she's finished, she escorts him back to his room. There's a few noticeable differences, all objects in the room that could possibly be used as a weapon are gone, and the room smells heavily of bleach.

 

Seth slams his door shut once the nurse has left and throws himself onto the bed. He tries not to think about the feeling of Dean pressed against him, but he can't help it. 

 

 

xXx

 

 

 

Roman sits on the edge of Dean's bed, his leg tapping the floor in anticipation. Roman sits on the edge of Dean's bed, his leg tapping the floor in anticipation. Tamina came by a couple of minutes ago to tell him that Dean would be leaving the infirmary now, and would be returning to his room. He desperately wants to see him. Dean's only been gone for two days at the most, but its felt like a life time. Roman's missed their chats and holding Dean in the middle of the night. It's such a simple thing to go without for a day or two, but he's felt it.

 

He lies back on Dean's bed, opting to look a bit more relaxed. AJ joins him moments later, laying on the bed beside him.

 

"You think Dean's gonna' want revenge?" AJ asks quietly, playing with a strand of her hair. Roman crosses his hands over his chest and turns his head to look at her.

 

"Maybe. I know I would. But he's smart; he knows that if he does something he's going to get in trouble. Why else would a nurse snoop around his room for no apparent reason? He's wanted for something, and I'd like to find out what." AJ lets out a soft sigh, nodding her head in agreement.

 

They're a weird little trio, and Roman knows it. But he sort of really likes it. There doesn't seem to be any other people in this place that have bothered to make friends, so they stick out from the rest of the group, but neither of them really care.

 

Dean arrives while Roman and AJ are in mid conversation about AJ's life before she came here. Dean's face brightens when he sees them, and manages to squish himself between them on the bed. There's no room at all, and AJ has to cling on for dear life, but they make it work.

 

"Missed you guys." Dean mumbles into the thin bed covers. AJ grips his shirt with her hands to stop herself from falling from the bed,

 

"Missed you too loser."

 

"You scared me to death, idiot." Roman says, poking Dean lightly in the ribs.

 

"I'm not the idiot. Talk to Seth Rollins if you want to talk to an idiot." Roman huffs out a laugh, shifting on the bed to give them some more room.

 

"You heard what he did last night?" Roman asks, his hand settling on Dean's hip.

 

"Did he murder someone?"

 

"No, but he also murdered himself. Slit his wrists open pretty bad, apparently there was blood everywhere." AJ makes a face and Dean shrugs.

 

"Don't really care; little shit can do what he wants as long as he doesn't come within two feet of me. Although, I do have a mean looking scar now. It's gonna' look like a battle scar before long." Dean rises onto his knees and lifts his shirt up to his shoulders. The angry red slash goes all the way across his chest, from the top of his right shoulder to his left side. The stitches are still in, but the edges are starting to turn pink where the scabs have fallen off.

 

“What are you going to do about Rollins?”

 

Dean hums, pulling his shirt back down and nestling between AJ and Roman once again. “Hopefully find out why he wants to kill me. If I can’t, well then I don’t know. There’s a nurse who said she’d help, though I don’t know whether to trust her.”

 

“Tamina? She seems nice enough, not like any of the other doctors here. We’ll see for now, though.”

 

 

xXx

 

 

Hunter Hearst Helmsley sits behind his desk and motions for Randy to sit opposite him. He adjusts his suit sleeves before resting his arms on the desk and clasping his hands together.

 

“Rollins, what’s the situation on him?” Randy shifts in his seat before clearing his throat.

 

“He seems to be reacting badly to the chip. Not only is it causing mental harm, but also physical harm. The chip seemed to move, almost coming out of his neck. He also harmed himself last night, slitting his wrists wide open. He carved Ambrose’s name on his arm too. He’s stable now, and we’re keeping an eye on him, Stephanie managed to put the chip back in properly and is pretty sure it won’t move again.” Randy explains, and Hunter listens intently without interjection. “We’re going to monitor him for the next couple of days, Stephanie’s sure he’s going to improve though.” Hunter nods, and a relieved look washes over Randy’s face. Hunter unclasps his hands and leans back in his chair.

 

“Orton, last time we met you told me Rollins would take care of Ambrose. What happened to that?” Randy shifts uncomfortably in his chair before scratching the back of his head.

 

“We’re not sure as to why Rollins didn’t get the job done this time.  He had both the means and the desire, and Reigns was out of the way too. He did get a pretty good slash in, but it seems Ambrose is a little bit harder to dispose of than we first thought.” A hard look settles on Hunter face.

 

“Randy I want this done sooner or later, OK? Ambrose is going to go, and Rollins is the one who’s going to put him there, got it?” Randy nods quickly before getting up out of his chair. He pauses with his hand on the office door handle.

 

“Sir?”

 

“Yes Randy?”

 

“Why does Rollins need to kill Ambrose?”

 

Hunter laughs, picking up his Stanley knife and pushing the blade up as far as it can go. He holds it up, so it glints under the light. “Good question, Randy. But I’m afraid that the answer to that is far too complicated for you to understand. So I’ll give you a simple summary. We humans create inseparable bonds with each other; sometimes not even death itself can break that bond. And I’ve always been curious, what is it than break that bond? A certain type of bond, killed in a certain way, maybe? Rollins and Ambrose, they shared a bond. A pretty strong one, it seems, and for me to conduct my research on the breaking of human bonds, Rollins must first prove to me that a bond can be broken. That Randy is why Rollins must kill Ambrose. But this is merely a prototype, Orton. This is me doing the preschool project before the college project. Once I have my evidence and my proof, I will move onto a lot bigger things. Do you understand?”

 

“Yes sir.” Randy gives Hunter a final nod before slipping out of the door. Hunter props his feet up on his desk and stares at the wall in front of him, in a large wooden frame is the picture of when Greenwoods Mental Institution was first opened. He of course, is not present. But smiling brightly, flaring the jealousy in his veins is the man who holds all the secrets. But William Regal is dead, and dead men can’t share secrets. But William Regal did not leave him empty handed, he left behind Tamina Snuka. Perhaps he’s clutching at straws, thinking that Tamina will know anything about Regal’s life work, but it is a risk he is more than willing to take.

 

Hunter holds the blade loosely in his palm and rears his arm back, he throws, and the blade glides through the air, landing in the solid wood of picture frame; just above Regal’s head. Hunter smiles and leans back further in his chair.

 

“Oh Mr Regal, soon the world will now what type of man you really were.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman’s not sure if he’s ever kissed a guy before. He’s not even sure if he’s ever kissed anyone before; he can’t remember anything from before waking up in this place. Everything’s new and different but this feels right, like he’s been meaning to kiss Dean his entire life. Maybe he has, maybe in the life they’ve left behind he should have kissed Dean. But he’ll probably never know, all he knows is that kissing Dean here and now is the most wonderful thing he’s experienced, as far as he knows. Dean’s lips are surprisingly soft and warm, and his hand is curled into his t-shirt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so here we have chapter seven. and finally, AMBREIGNS. they've managed to finally get somewhere. it's quite small, but their new budding relationship gets properly explored next chapter. everything in this chapter is a little here and there, but it needed to be jumpy for everything to slot together. i'd just like to take a moment to say thank you for the kudos and messages i get on this, its lovely. but i'd also like to ask if my readers are actually enjoying this. because although i write for myself, when i get reviews, it's usually just 'update' ((thanks to cynical.echo over at ff.net for a lovely review on a few of my stories)) and sometimes it feels like it's not actually being read you know? i'm sorry if this sounds like i'm moaning, but i just want to make sure you guys are enjoying it. so please, if you are, tell me so because it makes me happy. thank you. and as always, my tumblr psychrollins is open for prompts, rants and whatever.

Roman lets his fingers trail over the warm skin of Dean’s arm, and a little smile curls at the corners of his lips. Dean looks so peaceful when he’s asleep; it’s a nice change to the look that Dean seems to always have nowadays, a look of pure torture. Dean tries to deny it, but Roman knows he still hears that voice in the back of his mind.

 

They’ve taken to sleeping in each other’s rooms, now. It’s a complicated system, making sure that the night guards don’t find them out of their rooms but they make it work. It’s safer this way, not completely safe, but at least Roman can sleep a bit easier knowing that he’s right next to Dean if Seth tries something again. It’s been a few days, maybe, since Dean got out of the infirmary and they haven’t seen Seth since. Roman’s not sure why but not seeing him makes him feel uneasy. At least if he can see him he sort of knows what he’s up to, not knowing where the little two toned psycho is scares him.

 

They haven’t seen Tamina, either, and it makes him question whether she really wants to help them or not. But whatever, Roman’s going to make sure that he gets Dean out of here even if it kills him. He’s gonna’ get AJ out too, he’s going to make sure his two friends are safe, no matter what price he has to pay. It’s weird how the three of them have become such good friends in such unlikely circumstances. And Dean, he can’t even begin to describe his feelings for Dean. It goes way past wanting to keep him safe, he wants to protect him. Every time he looks at Dean he feels his heart flutter a little, even with that hideous scar on his cheek. Dean’s beautiful, and Roman wants to preserve that, shield him away from harm.

 

Dean shifts on the bed, his eyes fluttering open slowly. Dean smiles, his baby blue eyes lighting up. “Hey.”

 

Roman cracks a smile and reaches out to push some curls away from Dean’s face, “Hey.”

 

“I had a dream about you.” Dean says as Roman threads his fingers through his hair.

 

Roman grins, “Yeah? Good or bad?”

 

“I dunno good maybe? We were at a school and I guess we were buddies. And eh, Seth was there too. But we didn’t talk to him, and I kept telling you how hot he was. You just laughed at me, like you wouldn’t stop laughing at me. You thought it was cute and I called you an asshole.” Roman laughs softly, though his heart twists a little at the thought of Seth and Dean being attracted each other while he’s just _there._

 

“Felt really real, though; like I sort of remembered it more than I dreamt it.” Dean whispers, sighing at the feeling of Roman’s hands in his hair.

 

Roman shrugs, “Maybe it was a memory? I mean, AJ did say we all knew each other before whatever this is. Maybe there was a time when we were at school and you did think Seth was hot.”

 

Dean scrunches up his face, “That little shit tried to fucking kill me, like, twice! He can fuck off if he thinks I’m going to call him hot ever again,” Dean scoots closer to Roman, “But you know, you could have been an asshole.” Roman shoves his arm lightly before letting his hand travel to Dean’s face. The pads of his thumb gently caress Dean’s cheek, feeling the gentle scruff of Dean’s stubble against his skin. He leans in slightly, raising an eyebrow as if to ask for permission. Dean nods slightly and Roman feels his heart pounding in his chest. Dean’s so close he can feel his warm breath on his lips, he curls his hand around Dean’s neck and finally presses their lips together.

 

It’s slow and tentative to start, Roman’s not sure if he’s ever kissed a guy before. He’s not even sure if he’s ever kissed _anyone_ before; he can’t remember anything from before waking up in this place. Everything’s new and different but this feels _right,_ like he’s been meaning to kiss Dean his entire life. Maybe he has, maybe in the life they’ve left behind he should have kissed Dean. But he’ll probably never know, all he knows is that kissing Dean here and now is the most wonderful thing he’s experienced, as far as he knows. Dean’s lips are surprisingly soft and warm, and his hand is curled into his t-shirt.

 

Roman slips his hand down to Dean’s hip and pulls his body flush against his own. Dean lets out a moan, letting Roman slip his tongue inside Dean’s mouth. He rolls over onto his back and pulls Dean on top of him, his hands travelling down Dean’s back to grab at his ass. Dean grinds against him, rolling his hips and threading his hands into Roman’s hair. Roman breaks the kiss, panting hard and resting his forehead against Dean’s.

 

“God, I could kiss you all day.” Roman says after a moment’s breath, Dean grins, pecking Roman’s lips.

 

“Don’t kiss God, kiss me you asshole,” Roman rolls his eyes and steals another kiss. “But you know, I think we have a bit more time before everyone wakes up...”

 

“Better put that time to good use then, right God?”

 

“Shut up and kiss me, asshole.”

 

 

xXx

 

 

As she presses the replay button, Tamina’s insides swirl. She feels sick, she doesn’t want to watch this anymore but she needs to memorise every detail of the sick footage. She needs to see the exact moment that everything happens. Roman goes down first, hitting his head on the window sill. Tamina had expected Roman to be the last to go down, seeing as he appeared to be the biggest out of the three of them, and the fact that he’s the first confuses her. Seth’s the second to go, going limp in Dean’s arms. His movements mirror Roman’s, though they’re slightly less violent. Dean seems to be able to hold on a lot longer than anyone else, he tries to scream and shout, but finally succumbs after a hard struggle.

 

There’s a five minute lag in the tape before men in white overalls enter the room and drag Roman, Dean and Seth out of the room. Tamina hits stop on the tape for the final time and stands up straight, collecting herself. It had taken her a while to locate the exact tape from the day that the three boys were admitted, but she’d gotten there eventually. It’s another small piece to the puzzle that is their admittance, and sheds a little bit of light on what might actually be going on. From the tape, Tamina can see that there was _something_ going on between Dean and Seth, which may be why Hunter put the chip inside of Seth. But Tamina still has no idea why Hunter would want to manipulate someone so badly, to the point of getting them to kill someone.

 

Tamina removes the tape and shoves it back where it came from and gathers up her papers. She needs to talk to Dean and Roman, and Roman mentioned AJ, so talking with her too will give her a good idea of how well the counteract worked before. She’s on her way to her office to put her files back in the cabinet when she comes across Hunter. He very rarely comes out of his office, so it’s strange to see him walking down the main staff corridor.

 

“Ah Tamina, how nice to see you, how are you?” Hunter puts on a big smile, big enough for Tamina to know that it’s definitely fake.

 

“I’m OK sir, thank you. How are you?” 

 

“I’m good thank you, glad to have you back at work. Though don’t hesitate to ask if you need more time off, I know how hard it is to lose a loved one.”

 

“Thank you sir, I appreciate it.” Hunter gives a slight nod of his head before heading off down the corridor. Tamina watches him round the corner before heading to her office.

 

After speaking to Roman and Dean individually, Tamina knew she had to speak to them all. So yesterday she’d gotten permission from Vince to start holding group therapy sessions, so that way she’d be able to speak to all three of them without anyone ease dropping or suspicions being raised.

 

Tamina grabs her notebook and heads towards the ward, her mind spinning at a thousand miles an hour. Everything seems so complicated; everything that she’s managed to find out in the past day hasn’t made any sense. Finding out what the others know will hopefully help.

 

She finds all three of them sitting together in the common room, huddled on the wall seat locked in conversation. Seth’s not in the room and Tamina takes that as blessing. She clears her throat before calling out all three of their names in full and asking them to follow her. They understand pretty quickly and shuffle from their seats over to her. They follow Tamina silently all the way to a room with the words ‘Dr. William Regal’ written in black bold lettering on the frosted glass. Tamina unlocks the door and flicks on the lights, ushering them inside before checking the halls to make sure no one is around.

 

AJ, Dean and Roman take a seat in front of the large oak desk and exchange worried glances. Tamina takes a few glances around William’s office and a soft smile curls across her face, despite the small pang of sadness in her chest. She pulls down the blind and steps across the room to sit behind the desk.

 

“Sorry about the formality of this,” Tamina starts, “But I needed a way of talking to all three of you without being questioned. You especially,” Tamina points to Dean, “are quite the patient. Hunter has quite strict rules on whom doctors can and can’t talk to.” She explains, sifting through some of William’s old files.

 

“I called you all in because having spoken to you individually, and reading through some files, it’s clear that there’s something other than the norm going on here.” Roman scoffs and lays a protective hand on Dean’s thigh. “AJ, I’ll start by asking you some questions. Roman said that you remember stuff from before, what exactly is it that you remember?”

 

AJ shifts uncomfortably in her seat before looking up at Tamina, “Well, I uh, I can remember how I got in here. I uh,” AJ looks down at her hand and fiddles with her bare ring finger, “I remember my boyfriend, and how he was meant to meet me the day I came here.” Tamina feels her heart speed up a little, AJ can remember. The counteract worked, the selective memory wiping that Hunter had made sure of doing had failed.

 

“And how exactly do you remember getting in here?”

 

AJ’s brow furrows in confusion, looking towards Roman for some sort of guidance. He gives a simple nod of his head and AJ turns back to Tamina. “There was a house, a really old house in the middle of a field. Phil and I were meant to meet there, and I was early. So I decided to take a look around the place, it didn’t seem like much until all I heard was screaming and then I remember hitting my head before waking up on a hospital bed.” Tamina nods her head, her eyes flickering towards the picture of her and William on the desk. A lump forms in her throat, William never intended for anything like this to ever happen.

 

“The reason you remember, AJ, is because I gave you something that blocked the synapses in your brain for a period of time, stopping the memory wiping all patients are subjected to. You were originally Patient O; you were going to be the one that they tested on. But William Regal and I managed to stop that, and as a result of that you can remember everything about your old life that other patients can’t.” AJ’s mouth falls open slightly; Tamina can see the wave of emotions spreading across her face like a fire.

 

“Hold up a minute,” Roman’s low voice speaks up, “You’re saying they’re testing on people here?”

 

Tamina sighs and nods sadly, “I’m afraid so.”

 

“Is that even legal?”

 

“No, technically not, but the nurses here are all sworn to secrecy and paid vast amounts of money that make sure that nothing goes past these walls. Vince is also a pretty rich and influential guy, if anyone was to bring Greenwoods into disrepute, he’d find a way to get out of it. No one really knows about Greenwoods anyway, so proving something like that is difficult. We no longer have routine inspections, for a reason I am not completely sure of. So whatever happens down here stays down here, and I’m afraid you three are now a part of it.” Tamina leans forward, clasping her hands together on the desk.

 

“What AJ recalled about the house is completely true. It’s stupid, I know, and quite simply abduction, but I have no control over that. Your fates were sealed the moment you decided to step inside of that house. From there, you come here and your memory is wiped and depending on what Hunter’s come up with in his sick brain, you’re used for something.

 

AJ was originally going to be the first test subject of an emotionally manipulating chip, but I intervened. Now Seth is the subject, and sadly I wasn’t here to intervene. I found the tape of you guys coming in,” Tamina gestures to Dean and Roman and watches as Roman’s hand strokes Dean’s thigh slowly. “And it appears that there was an emotional bond between Dean and Seth.” Roman’s hand tightens on Dean’s thigh, Tamina locks eyes with Roman and his grey, steely orbs hold a deep rooted emotion that Tamina can’t read.

 

“Which brings me to the reason why Seth’s got a problem with Dean, Hunter’s put a chip inside of Seth, I haven’t been able to locate where yet as Seth’s under surveillance at the moment, but it’s messing with his emotions. It’s most likely that his memories have been wiped, but those emotions he used to feel towards Dean, whether it was a strong friendship or relationship have now been flipped a full one-eighty, meaning he wants to kill you.

 

I’ve been doing some nosing around, as much as I can without being caught, and I’ve found that Seth’s body is not reacting properly to the chip. He’s having bad physical and mental reactions, resulting in him hurting himself.”

 

“Why should we care if he hurts himself?” Roman’s voice is a low growl.

 

Tamina sighs; she can already tell that Roman’s going to be a problem. There’s something inside of him that makes him furiously protective over those he cares about, his will to forgive being outweighed by his desire to protect. “Because Roman, Seth obviously used to be your friend. He’s not willingly trying to kill Dean, he’s being manipulated into it. I’m going to do what I can to get the chip out, though I don’t know how much of Seth’s past I’ll be able to recover. The counteract I gave AJ may not work on someone who’s memory has already been wiped.”

 

“Listen, I don’t give a fuck if you can’t save Seth, alright? He tried to kill Dean, and for that I’ll never forgive him. But I’m willing to help you if it means keeping AJ and Dean safe. But don’t expect me to welcome him with open arms if you ever save him from whatever this is.” Roman grits out, leaning forward in his chair. Tamina swallows, suddenly feeling intimidated by him. She flicks her gaze over to Dean, who hasn’t said a word since being in the room. He’s looking down at his fingers, an unreadable expression written on his face. Roman’s still glaring at her. No matter what Roman thinks, Tamina knows that Dean feels differently.

 

For her to fully understand the extent of the manipulations Hunter has forced upon Seth, she needs to understand how far the emotional bond between Seth and Dean went, and how Roman was involved. But Tamina has a feeling Dean won’t say anything about Seth in front of Roman, so she scribbles a quick note in her notebook to talk to Dean later when he’s alone.

 

Her eyes find William’s on the photograph on the desk. His eyes look so full of life and she fights back tears, she knows she’s taking on a lot, trying to go against Hunter’s experiments, but it needs to be done. For those three sitting in front of her and their _friend._

 

 

xXx

 

 

Seth scratches at his recently unwrapped wrists. His scabs are hot and itchy and no amount of scratching them is making it better. A loud sigh leaves Seth’s lips as he sits up in bed. He hasn’t moved all day, he can’t bring himself to. If he sees Dean, well he doesn’t know what he’ll do. There’s still this overwhelming urge to bash him over the head until there’s nothing left of him, but now there’s something else there, like a pull, pulling and pulling him so much that all he wants to do is be _close_ to Dean.

 

The dream he’d had earlier didn’t help much. Though it wasn’t like a dream really, it was like an old video playing itself in his head. It felt so real, like he’d been there before. They’d been inside a bedroom, he’d figured it was his own room there were pictures of him and other people everywhere. He’d been shaking, his whole body convulsing while a sheath of sweat covered his body. There were arms wrapped around his whole body, cradling him close. There were lips pressed against his head, a soft voice murmuring that everything OK. It was _Dean_ and Seth had never felt so safe before. He felt so at peace, tucked into Dean’s warm body and having his soft smooth voice lulling him into comfort.

 

He’d woken up quietly, not jolting awake in a rush of fear like he’d been doing previously. The dream felt so real, like Dean really did have his arms wrapped around him. But he couldn’t understand why he would? Dean hated him, _Seth wants to kill him._ Seth digs his nails into his wrist, breaking the broken skin even more and watching the blood bead up to the surface.

 

Blood illuminates the large lettering that covers his arm. _Dean._


End file.
